AMP Comics is launching a new comic series based on The Greatest American Hero. The project promises to deliver “the ending he deserved.”
The series is written by Don Handfield, illustrated by Alper Gelcel, with covers by David Mack.
A Cult TV Classic Returns
The Greatest American Hero aired on ABC from 1981 to 1983. Producer Stephen J. Cannell created the superhero comedy, which ran three seasons and 43 episodes. ABC canceled the series before airing its final episodes, which later surfaced on VHS.
The show starred William Katt as Ralph Hinkley, a mild-mannered high school teacher chosen by aliens to wear a red-and-black super suit. The suit grants flight, strength, invulnerability, and telekinesis. Ralph immediately loses the instruction manual and learns its powers the hard way.
Robert Culp co-starred as FBI agent Bill Maxwell, who pushes Ralph into crime-fighting. Connie Sellecca played Pam Davidson, Ralph’s girlfriend and confidant. The series also became famous for its theme song, “Believe It or Not” by Joey Scarbury, which hit No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Spinoffs and Reboots That Never Took Off
The franchise attempted a spinoff in 1983 with The Greatest American Heroine. The episode cast a female successor to inherit the suit, but it never aired.
In the mid-2010s, Fox explored a reboot with Phil Lord and Christopher Miller attached. Later, ABC ordered a female-led pilot starring Hannah Simone as Meera, an Indian-American woman who receives the suit. The pilot was produced, but ABC passed in 2018.
A First for the Character on the Page
For decades, the property had no official prose or comic adaptations. An exception came in 2008, when Arcana Comicsreleased a three-issue miniseries by William Katt, Derek McCaw, Chris Folino, and Clint Hilinski. That project avoided direct visual likenesses for legal reasons. AMP’s new series does not appear to face those limitations.
Free Comic Book Day Launch
AMP Comics will debut The Greatest American Hero comic on Free Comic Book Day, Saturday, May 2, 2026.
The story centers on Ralph’s return as he reconnects with his son, who knows him only as “the crazy man in red pajamas.” Seven days remain. One suit returns. A final sacrifice looms. The Greatest American Hero gets his long-awaited ending.
